Photographer's Note

I already posted a global view of the Copacabana beach at sunset but it deserved a close up to my mind. This famous beach is a good place to understand the brazilian spirit.

In every brazilian I met, there were a special way of living I never met anywhere else, except partly in Angola. Society is so violent, poverty so obvious everywhere with the “Favelas” located just above the wealthy buildings or houses that people can’t evacuate it from their everyday life.

Still, they adopted a way of behaving themselves, meeting in open spaces around a “chope” of beer and talking about just everything from samba, politics, corruption, futebol, foreign countries, the brazilian women, their beautiful country that you can’t help thinking they are aware of the various beauties of their country and are really proud of it.

I discovered that just everybody would meet at the beach. Of course, each beach has its standing, Copacabana is probably with a lower standing than Ipanema but just every brazilian could go down the beach, from the poorer up to the richest, to experiment some surf, have a sunbath or walking like a crazy J all along the 10 or 20 km of sand in the south beaches of Rio de Janeiro. Looks like a kind of balance could be found on the beach, the place looks sacred, accessible to all brazilian, a place where no segregation could occure, a place of democracy. It’s reflected in the beautiful mixture of skin colors on can see on those beaches.

I also had the pleasure to discover that even if they are invaded by the US products and marketing, most of them are fascinated by the Old Europe and its valors. "Ordem e progresso" is an extract of the french philosopher "Auguste Comte", 19th century.

Great one Steven, at 1st glance it looks just like a mundane picture postcard but on closer inspection the wealth of detail and characture in the figures is superb and really promotes the relaxed attitude you refer to. The lone guy reading? with the father and child playing in the surf on the left 3rd is a wonderful counter point to the lady sitting on the boat on the right 3rd and the group on the right ballances the weight of the background on the left.
Serendipity or skill? mostly the later I'd say.

I'm very happy to see that you had a good time in my city... by the way, formely, a way that an emperor had to invade other countried and take over was my armies and wars, but nowadays this domain is made by business..

I can't understand how you could got so nice shots from Copacabana... It is a very very dirty beach. I don't go there almost 10 years, coz I disgust this water and sand and I am not courageous to swimm there... And also there are many prostitutes... Very very sad :(
I think the greatest beach of Rio de Janeiro is Recreio... Did you get there?